Cook the Story

Grüner Veltliner was on the verge of trendy a few years ago. And I loved it. But then, all of a sudden I stopped seeing it and stopped hearing about it. This weekend it’s one of the wines being featured at my local wine shop, Roget’s.  I hope this means we’ll be seeing more of this food-friendly wine in the months ahead.

To go with the Schellmann Ossi Grüner Veltliner being featured at Roget’s I’m suggesting grilled mangoes with a pepper-crusted goat’s cheese. This will work as either the start to a fun relaxing evening or as a refreshing cheese course at the end. Either way, a bottle of Grüner Veltliner along side will make the sweet mango, the black pepper and the sultry evening even more enjoyable. Get the recipe from the Cook the Story Facebook Page.

I *love* having really versatile items in my fridge. Give me a tomato, a red onion and some cheddar cheese; I’ll give you one hundred dinner ideas (other ingredients required, of course!).

That’s why I adore this recipe. I call it Homemade Cooking Cream because it can be used in all the ways you might use Philly Cooking Cream. But, you don’t have to buy an extra product AND you can season it up any way you like.

(What *is* Cooking Cream? It’s kind of like slightly thinned cream cheese that is soft even when cold. It’s sold next to the cream cheese in the refrigerated area of the grocery store. There’s a plain “original” version and several different seasoned varieties (e.g., savory garlic, Italian cheese and herb). You keep it in the fridge and then add a dollop to veggies, pasta and more to create a quick creamy sauce.)

Here I’ve made my own basic cooking cream and seasoned it with toasted then crushed cumin and coriander seeds, a lot of black pepper and a burst of lime. This combination of flavors has several great uses:

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<Note from Christine: When I was pregnant with Baby M, I sent out a request to some fellow bloggers for guest posts sharing strategies for getting dinner on the table. Last week we read about The Mrs and her awesome strategy: Let the husband cook! This week Jane from Adventures in Dinner shares her strategies for continuing to entertain even when life is NUTS.

Many people might think, “Why bother? Just stop having people over for dinner until things settle down!” But if you’re like Jane (or like me, for that matter) that solution does not exist. The idea of not having people over sounds just as ludicrous as deciding to stay home all the time because navigating the world accompanied by kids is just too hard.

We have people over for dinner all the time because we love cooking for others, sharing with others, laughing comfortably around the table with others. That isn’t going to stop so we need to embrace it and find strategies to make it easy. Jane has done this here with a simple meal and a set of guidelines to keep you sane.>

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I was so thrilled when Christine asked me to guest post about my favourite strategy for getting dinner on the table because:

1. she’s awesome
2. she always makes me think
3. since my wee one was born our lives have considerably changed
4. she’s awesome

My husband and I have been a couple for 12 years now and have always entertained a lot.  We even had our wedding in our backyard and I made the food for it.  There wasn’t really a weekend that went by without at least one set of company for a meal-usually two or three.

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Food 52‘s contest this week is The Recipe You Want to be Remembered For. Do you know which recipe you’d enter?

It’s a tricky decision, isn’t it?

• Do you choose a dish that everyone loves and repeatedly asks you to make or the one that you love and can’t wait to slurp up?

• Do you choose a dish that has a history: The recipe you learned at your mother’s knee or the first thing you cooked for your spouse?

• Do you allow yourself to be inspired by the current season or do you choose a true favorite even if it’s out of sync?

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Chicken thigh brushed with a simple port reduction and then roasted. Served with a drizzle of the reduction, cheddar-garlic-mash and greens.

My little J is not interested in sauces:

• He does not want any liquid to touch his food (except maple syrup, which he will use to drench anything, even broccoli!).

• He does not like dips (unless he’s dipping his  fingers in ketchup and then putting them in his mouth for a suck).

• Any kind of stew or braise gets a full-body pout and the request, ‘Wash my food off please, Mommy.”

I therefore don’t worry about putting a tiny bit of wine into our stews and sauces. Most of the alcohol will boil away and what’s left is unlikely to get near J’s mouth.

What I avoid feeding him are the intensely boozy sauces (not that he would ever seriously consider sampling them anyways).

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Introducing the next Cook the Story series:

LINGUISTICALLY AMBIGUOUS FOODS

Whazzat?

Time for a Linguistics lesson! (Don’t worry. I’ll make it brief.)

Linguists get a bit excited when they’re around ambiguity. If you’ve ever taken a course in Linguistics, raise your hand if you’ve heard too much about the word “unlockable” or if you’ve drawn two sentence structure diagrams for “The boy saw the girl with the binoculars.”

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My brother Mike and his wife Angela (owners / operators of Pittman’s on 44) spend spring gearing up for summer. They plan new menu items and get the staff (mostly students) into shape before May Long hits.

From that weekend on it’s non-stop insanity. I know because I’ve had a spin in the whirlwind of a beach-town restaurant myself.

Cottagers, campers and road-trippers continuously trample the craggy shores of the Whiteshell Provincial Park until Labour Day Weekend. And then: (more…)

The sea air and sunshine contributed to the tastiness we experienced this weekend but I’ve had everything-tastes-so-good weekends that cannot be attributed solely to the weather.

For instance:

• My husband, toddler and I chilled out in the Georgia Mountains for a few days in October. We took a few basic seasonings and winged it in the small kitchen. Sipping on pinot noir, we sang out loud to bluegrass (like  Nickel Creek) while spareribs roasted slowly on foil. No hours of smoking. No special blend of spices. Only ketchup and honey for a glaze. We ended up licking sticky sauce from our fingers and watching meat fall off bones while (more…)

Here is the final installment of my New Year’s Eve party suggestions. It is last but certainly not least. The brie oozes creaminess while the cranberries tang and the ginger zings. The bit of crème de cassis in the mix made it a marvelous match for the Kir Pétillant that was floating around our holiday party.

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Sugar and spice and everything nice…But these cashews (like most girls I know!) have a spunky side that packs a real kick.

As promised, here is my second-to-last post about the ultimate New Year’s Eve party:

My recipe for Spicy Maple Cashews that will keep people snacking and sipping all night long.

• 1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp coarse black pepper
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp coriander (preferably toasted and coarsely ground but 3/4 tsp of finely ground coriander is fine as well)
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 4 cups whole cashews (or some combination of nuts, such as 2 cups almonds and 2 cups cashews, which is pictured above)
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 2 cups golden raisins

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